South Lake Tahoe's Pearl Harbor survivor honors those who lost their lives during the attack

On the 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, a South Lake Tahoe resident has first-hand knowledge of what took place on December 7, 1941, in Hawaii.

Garfield Ware, 98, was just 18-years-old when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. He was in the U.S. Navy and assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Lexington and not at the base when the bombs were dropped. He and his 2,200 shipmates had left the harbor to ferry fighter aircraft to Midway Island when they saw the Japanese fighter planes fly overhead. The ship turned around and returned to a port on December 8 that was devastated by the attack and aftermath he still remembers.

"It was traumatic," said Garfield.

His ship was then involved in the Battle of the Coral Sea on May 8, 1942. It sustained incapacitating battle damage which forced Garfield and the crew into shark-infested waters until they were rescued.

The ship was then scuttled in the ocean so the Japanese could not get their hands on it.

Garfield was moved onto another ship and was in Japan when surrender papers and the peace treaty were signed. He spent seven years in the Navy before moving to Sacramento and working for five governors as their custodian. He has lived in South Lake Tahoe for five years.

There are no clear statistics on how many Pearl Harbor survivors are still alive, though there is an estimate of no more than 75 survivors are thought to be alive. There were 25,574 of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II alive in 2020, and with the attack on Pearl Harbor being what propelled the United States, survivors are a much smaller group.

Garfield was at Happy Homestead Cemetery on Tuesday to participate in a small wreath ceremony. He was flanked by granddaughter Julee Delacour and son-in-law Anthony Piscitelli as they walked with the wreath.

In 2016, Ware was part of the Honor Flight that took him to Washington, D.C. and he returned to Pearl Harbor for the first time in 77 years in 2018 with his daughter Shelley Piscitelli, granddaughter Julee Delacour and his great-granddaughter.

It was a coincidence that when Ware and the family were at Pearl Harbor, the wreckage of the Lexington was found with airplanes still attached to its deck. On its side, the ship's mascot, Felix the Cat, could still be seen with marks acknowledging the number of planes its staff shot down during the war.

A belated birthday party for Garfield took place in October where over 100 people took part the celebration. A bigger celebration is planned for his 99th birthday on February 16, 2022.